Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister says he is keenly aware of that boy and that girl. When looking at the budget figures, it does not feel like it. He does not have to take my word for it. The ESRI said it thinks the budget will push more disabled people into poverty. Instead, the Government decided to try to splash the cash around indiscriminately in a brazen attempt to try to buy votes rather than invest in these critical services, such as disability services. That was a political choice that was made. On budget day, we saw what we have seen in every other budget from this Government, where we are told of a huge figure that is being invested into disability services this year. The Minister said €336 million but like every other year, we tabled questions to the Department. The Minister has conflated two different figures. We can all agree that the existing level of service is not enough. Like I said, there are no motorised transport grants. How many children are waiting for children's disability network teams? There is not one fully staffed team. It is not enough.

The additional funding, it turns out, was €42 million. That is €22 million less than last year. Does the Minister accept that is a decrease on the additional funding from last year at a time we know the existing level of service is threadbare?

See this speech in context